Pete Rock has been promising a new instrumental album since January. Last month, the legendary beatsmith revealed the release date was April 12, but it was apparently pushed back by two weeks.
Now, Rock has finally delivered The Return Of The SP1200, boasting 12 unreleased cuts he originally concocted in the 1990s.
Peppered with Rock’s signature jazz-infused beats and J. Rocc’s impeccable scratching, the project follows his last instrumental album, 2017’s The Lost Sessions. He released his first rhyme-free album in 2001, the aptly titled Petestrumentals, and dropped another installment of the series in 2015 called Petestrumentals2.
Check out The Return Of SP1200 album stream, cover art and tracklist below.
- Dreamer
- Harps Of Heaven
- Round Midnight
- Hope The World Don’t Stop (Before I Get Mines)
- Neo Funk
- Kool Jazz
- Gutta Music
- Death Becomes You
- Live From The Basement (Up, Up and Away)
- Traveling Man
- Sweet Dreams
- Below 0
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[This article has been updated. The last version was published on March 21, 2019 and can be found below.]
Pete Rock is back with another update on his forthcoming Return Of The SP1200 instrumentals album. On Wednesday (March 20), the veteran producer took to Instagram and revealed the release date for the project is April 12.
He also shared the album’s artwork and gave a special shoutout to The Beat Junkies’ J. Rocc who provides scratches on the album.
“Im super excited about this project cuz its old beats that still sound heavy,” he wrote. “Jamie Staub did such a wonderful job mixing, Jrocc my other soul brotha from anotha motha and sanford green former marvel artist of black panther & Luke Cage! Wanted that “spiderverse” feel. 4/12.”
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Rock has evidently been busy. De La Soul’s Maseo recently confirmed to HipHopDX he and DJ Premier were working on two new albums with the New York-bred trio. Skyzoo also has a project coming out with the storied beatsmith called Retropolitan.
Return Of The SP1200 serves as Rock’s follow-up to 2017’s Lost Sessions and 2015’s Petestrumentals2 instrumental albums. His first rhyme-free project, Petestrumentals, dropped in 2001.
Revisit the album below.
[This article has been updated. The original version was published on January 3, 2019 and can be found below.]
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The Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth days may be long gone, but that doesn’t mean Rock’s musical output has slowed down. On Wednesday (January 2), Rock took to Instagram to announce The Return of the SP1200 instrumental album is on it way.
According to the caption, the project will include beats he made between 1990 and 1998 and scratches from The Beat Junkies’ J. Rocc. He also divulged Skyzoo has an album coming as well, which Rock produced.
“And it starts,” he wrote. “This will be my 1st release of 2019. The Return Of The SP1200 instrumental lp with beats from like 1990-97-98 i never used. The rejects or just beats that i never did nothing with. Gonna be variations of the way i do instrumental albums COMING SOON!!!
“All scratches and excerpts by the beat junkie himself @jrocc210 who has done a wonderful job. people love good music.we love hip hop still,dont ever get it fucked up. DSR2 PRSB PETESTRUMENTALS 3 & NEW SKYZOO album Produced by Pete Rock COMING SOON! And alot more stay tuned.”
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Rock has released a myriad of instrumental projects over the years beginning with 2001’s PeteStrumentals. In 2015, he returned with PeteStrumentals 2 and two years later, delivered the Lost Sessions album.
The Bronx native has also collaborated with several notable MCs along the way, including Smoke DZA on 2016’s Don’t Smoke Rock and Smif-n-Wessun on 2011’s Monumental.
Although Rock didn’t name any specific dates, it likely won’t be long.
In the meantime, revisit PeteStrumentals 2 below.[apple_news_ad type=”any”]
